The 1645 oil painting is currently housed at the Prado Museum.

But I didn't care, because the Prado Museum, which opened in 1819, was still there.

On May 19, the decision was announced by the governing body of the Prado Museum.

Finally, in 2007, an agreement between the church and the government led to the appropriation of the land for the cloister by the Prado Museum.

It now forms part of the permanent collection of the Prado Museum.

The location is superb, by the Prado museum and a short walk from the Retiro park.

No visit to Madrid is complete without spending at least a morning or afternoon in the Prado Museum.

He even becomes a popstar and meets the ghost of the Prado Museum.

It is now free to visit the permanent collections at Madrid's Prado museum (91 330 2800; www.museodelprado.es) every evening after 6pm.

"Our political life has been radicalizing," he said recently, pacing his law office near the Prado museum in Madrid.